


Sanctuary

by caimanriseup



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Tricksters, sorta???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-17
Updated: 2013-01-17
Packaged: 2017-11-25 19:39:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/642319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caimanriseup/pseuds/caimanriseup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Normally, Nepeta is happy to welcome friends into her dream bubble, but something is amiss when Trickster!Dirk drifts in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sanctuary

A sickly sweet smell stirred Nepeta from her newest shipping wall. Quite contrary to what was expected, death had only given more shipping opportunities. After all, the dream bubbles were full of all sorts of new people and different timelines of the people. 

Of course, updating her wall wasn’t the only upside to being dead. It had given her a chance to meet some new friends, in particular the human Dirk. In some ways, he reminded her of Equius, strong and so skilled with robotics. Of course, there were other aspects that were similar. He had feeling problems that were more tangled than an untidy ball of yarn. 

Shaking her head, Nepeta decided to explore the source of the smell, prowling outside her hive. As soon as she left the comfort of her abode, she spotted Dirk hovering in the air. At least, she thought it was him. He was garbed head to toe in outlandish, garish clothing that Nepeta was sure would have given Kanaya a fit. He drifted down to her, the scent of too-ripe fruit becoming overpowering. Slapping a gloved hand over her face, Nepeta asked, “Dirk? What’s wrong with you?”

He grinned wide, wider than Nepeta knew a face could stretch. Something dark stirred in her, a memory of another mad smile and a blur of clubs. She trembled. “You’re scaring me.”

“There’s nothing to be scared of! Everything is just so greeeeeat!” he responded, voice high and sending shivers down her spine. She stepped back but Dirk pushed forward, getting so close Nepeta could see orange syrup dripping from the corners of his mouth. “I was so confused now but now I’m not!”

“Confused? I don’t understand.”

“I was so upset about my problems with Jake but now everything is all peachy,” he drew out that last word, like a sword being drawn from a wound. 

Swallowing her fear, Nepeta said, “You’re having purr-purrblems with Jake?”

“That’s right but not anymore I’m positively happy! And it wasn’t just Jake. I was so unsure of myself!”

For the first time, Nepeta noticed a tremble at the corner of Dirk’s lips, as if his mouth was being pulled back. Orange stained the corner of his eyes, as if he had been crying. Nepeta summoned up all her courage. Her friend needed her. “Dirk, I don’t know what’s happening, but we’ll fix it.”

“I don’t need to be fixed! There’s nothing to be scared of.” His voice dropped, losing that sharp, merry glee. He shook, starting to slouch, but he righted himself quickly, as if he were being pulled by puppet strings.

Nepeta clenched her fists. She knew exactly what she had to do. She reached up to touch him but he pulled back. “No, you can’t. If you touch me you’ll turn into…”

But Nepeta wasn’t one to be dissuaded. She reached up pressing a hand to Dirk’s cheek. There was a tense moment, then nothing. She smiled at him. “See, I’m fine, furiend.”

Dirk collapsed, but Nepeta was more than strong enough to catch him. He held onto her like a newborn meowbeast, shaking. She hushed him, offering reassurances. He whimpered, “I’m scared, Nepeta.”  
“It’ll be fine,” she purred. Normally she would not have given such pale comfort to anyone but Equius, but this was an exception she thought was acceptable. Despite her small size, her arms offered a safe haven to fall.


End file.
